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Q: list of things to bring to China
I'm packing, I have enough body care products. Last time I wanted to look for better shopping, never found Walmart, never found clothes my size.never found a good grocery or liquor store, doubt I could bring a live chicken home for dinner.
What will I miss? Should I bring tea bags? Instant coffee? tea seems to be expensive to me, thought it would be cheap from a producing country.
I have chocolate, booze, perfume, extra batteries, tylenol, haven't found my motorcycle rain suit, have the little rainsuits. What will I miss?
Two adaptor plugs, home brand cigarettes (if you smoke), sturdy shoes and a spare pair of glasses (assuming you need them).
Depends what city you're going to.
TedDBayer:
the city keeps getting deleted, it starts with GU, and ends with ILIN
Shining_brow:
Deleted?? I haven't been down that way, but given it's a popular spot with expats, I'd presume there's lots of goodies you can get, so won't need to bring with you!
I would add to that deodorant (maybe at least 6 months), forget batteries and tea, plenty here. Any medicines you normally take get a few months supply, good old Centrum vitamin pills, winter clothes (better if wool sweaters), find from Radio shack a good rectifier 240/120 to be used in China if needed (mine was $ 30,00 USD), if show size over 8 or 9, bring a couple of new ones, rubber sole, not leather, too slippery. Find the motorcycle rain suit, here you can get a poncho, not a suit, legs do get soaked if rain.
I say bring tea bags. The lipton's here is horrible and weak, and any other brands you find here are overpriced imports.
Off the top of my head...
1. Electric converter (not just a convertor for plug shapes, but one that adjusts the voltage too)
2. Clothes that fit, including shoes.
3. Chinese dictionary of some sort (probably better off with a book of phrases)
4. VPN
Bringing your own booze and tylenol are probably good ideas. The pain killers I got there were effective and I ended up liking them, but it was a pain to locate them since they don't have Western brands and it took me a while to figure out how to ask the employee.
I don't think finding chocolate is difficult, unless you're really attached to a certain kind. I also had no problem finding Lipton tea, or other cheap teas, assuming you can find a wal-mart/Carrefour/mall.
For me:
1) Clothes that fit and aren't ugly pink polo shirts or hipster bs or formal shirts with no sleeves. Even if you can find clothes your size, they will all make you want to vomit.
2) A coffee maker, a coffee grinder, and as many coffee beans as I could carry.
Anything else I've needed I've been able to find in China at a reasonable price.
Bring lots and lots of Trojans. Also a few hundered Advil liquid gels will come in handy.
Also if you are a germiphobe like me, bring many small bottles of hand sanitizer. Almost no washrooms have soap.
I don't belive you're even coming here. For almost a year now this answers section has been up and you keep talking about "coming here." You are either already here and have NOTHING better to do, or not coming at all.
TedDBayer:
more like 6 months and i was there once, I went Beijing>Guilin>.Yangshou>Beijing> Xian> Guilin> Beijing. wanna see pics? have flight booked to Feb 18, wanna meet me at the airport, I'll smack you one.
So WTF? I went to see what it was like and to scout it out, never found good shopping. It's cold in Gui---- , so I might run someplace warmer after a little while. Haven't decided where.
Nevermind , were you always an a***ole or did living in China do it to you?
vpn is a must, sign up before in country otherwise you spend days trying to find one, lucky i got some Chinese freind that gave me this Brazilian VPN for about 15 quai a month, and works great. Also freegate worked well as a proxy i think it is but slow if you are uploading.
COMTREX or its equivalent!!! You do NOT want CTM fir a cold!
In addition to everything mentioned, please bring a great big, bucket of sanity. I can't find it anywhere here.
If you cook or plan to cook at home, bring some packs or bottles of dried herbs and such with you. You can get some things here, but others are almost impossible - dill weed, tarragon, cinnamon, Mexican chili powder, paprika, celery salt...
A few good books doesn't hurt either - grab a few paperbacks and carry them on with you. They will give you something to do and when you're done, you have an in-demand tradable item. Books in English are expensive here and always appreciated.
I've been told that one of the most important things to bring is an umbrella. A big one.. maybe one of those golf umbrellas. They are readily available everywhere in China, but they are small and don't last through a blow of the wind.
